TD Ameritrade’s 3rd Annual Generation Z survey takes a closer look at what this generation is doing right and where there is room for improvement. The survey also polled Generation Y (ages 25-37) this year, to see how these two generations differ. Biggest Financial Worries: Unemployment, Student Loans and When asked, in an open-ended question, their biggest concern with today’s economy, members of Gen Z were most likely to say jobs/unemployment.

Kaci F., a Gen Z intern for , shares this sentiment, “It’s very difficult to find a job right now, but I think the economy has been getting better.
Gen Z: Coming to an Internship Near You. Generation Z, a group loosely defined as those born after 1995, spans the globe at two billion strong and makes up 25 percent of the American population.

Shaped by social media, technology and the deepest recession since the Great Depression, this generation is lauded as more educated, connected and sophisticated than any generation that has come before. Their defining traits of being self-motivated, entrepreneurial-minded and outward-focused are, in essence, a blend of the best traits held by preceding generations. This is an ambitious generation that has placed a profound importance and personal responsibility on preparing for their career while in college or even earlier, with 80 percent of current high school students from a 2014 High School Careers report sharing interest in pursuing an internship while they’re still in high school. Related: 6 Steps to Writing Your Own Definition of Success Think of them as intrapreneurs.

NEW YORK, September 2, 2014 – Millennial Branding, a Gen Y research and consulting firm, and Randstad, the third-largest HR services and staffing company in the United States, today announced results from the first worldwide study to focus on the workplace preferences of both Generation Y (ages 21 to 32) and Generation Z (ages 16 to 20). Key takeaways from the findings show:
Welcome to Forbes. Beyond Millennials: How to Reach Generation Z. Millennials are so last year.

As the generation that inspired countless thinkpieces eases out of the public eye, marketers are honing in on the next wave of consumers: Generation Z. These folks, born in 1995 or later, make up 25.9% of the United States' population, contribute $44 billion to the American economy and differ from their predecessors in a few key ways. While millennials — a.k.a.
Get ready for Generation Z. Jack Andraka created a pancreas cancer test (Ethan Hill/Redux) Last February, 16-year-old Ann Makosinski drew applause and gasps when she appeared on The Jimmy Fallon Show.

The Victoria native was showing off her invention—a flashlight powered by the heat of a human hand—on a segment with two other young inventors. It wasn’t just Makosinski’s clever adaptation of technology that wowed the crowd; it was her inspiration: the plight of a friend in the Philippines who’d failed a grade at school because she lacked electricity to study at night. Her empathy-driven ingenuity has won her acclaim and the top prize for 15- to 16-year-olds at the Google Science Fair, a place on Time’s “Top 30 under 30” list, as well as a barrage of media coverage. As she exited the stage, Fallon shook his head in awe.

Fallon’s line may be a cliché, but it echoes a growing sentiment, as the spotlight is thrust on Generation Z, the unimaginative term for the cohort following Gen Y, or Millennials.
Retailers will have to switch things up to wow Gen Z crowd. A couple of weeks ago, I picked up my stepdaughter at Viera Regional Park from soccer camp.

I must have had an "easy touch" look. "Can we go to Justice?
Gen Z Shopping: the future of retail. FITCH's latest report: Designing retail for the constant state of partial attention Meet the most complex yet most critical shopper of all time – Generation Z.

By 2020, today’s 14-19 year olds (Gen Z) will be the largest group of consumers worldwide, making up 40% of the US, Europe and BRIC countries, and 10% in the rest of the world. The needs and behaviours of this group will inform not only the next generation of shoppers, but the future of mainstream retail. Fundamentally, the old rules of retail no longer apply. So, how do retailers and brand owners engage with a new kind of shopper, who pays less attention but with a sharper and hyper-informed eye?
Move over Millennials - it’s time to talk to Gen Z. Born post 1995, this generation are true digital natives.

They don’t know of life before Google, Facebook, smart mobile phones or digital TVs. Similarly referred to as the iGeneration, NetGen or Screenagers they have been born into a pervasive digital world where everything and everyone is accessible at the press of a button or click of a mouse. As such they are used to finding information and education, consuming entertainment, communicating, participating and sharing across multiple digital screens. And they are used to achieving these multiple tasks simultaneously, flitting from one screen to another as they do.
Www.jwtintelligence.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/F_INTERNAL_Gen_Z_0418122.pdf. TR1_GenZ.pdf. The Life of Generation Z.

By: Brinda Barcelon Generation Z has been named the generation of technology, the generation of lost childhood, the generation of ambition while lacking hard work.

There’s speculation about where generation Z begins, but some say the oldest members of Generation Z are this year’s high school seniors. Being a high school senior, I find it odd to be labeled in this way, but I do see why we’ve accumulated these names. While we may be the last in the alphabet we are the first for almost everything else. Gen Z has been deemed the most technologically advanced generation, which isn’t necessarily a blessing. Due to our early introduction of technology few people want to go outside, they’d rather tweet or play a video game.

We can text, read, watch, talk and eat all at the same time, a talent that stuns adults. Mental health experts are even saying that all the technology is causing an “acquired attention deficit disorder.”
Real Life But Better: How Augmented Reality Can Save Gen Z. Our kids are fat.

They’re super-connected, self-aware, highly-strategic, fat kids. One-third of American kids are overweight, according to the CDC.
Meet Generation Z - Google Docs. Gen Z Final White Paper. Generation Z: The new experience strategy. SME 5 Ways to Build Your Brand for Gen Z. Assets/uploads/2013/10/Gen-Z-Whitepaper.pdf. Meet Generation Z: Forget Everything You Learned About Millennials. Generation Z Spending Habits. Generation Z: A Look at the Technology and Media Habits of Today’s Teens. A study on GenZ by Wikia finds that teen users are connected nearly all waking hours of the day and report being more “actively connected” now than even 3 months ago SAN FRANCISCO, CA. – March 18, 2013 – Wikia, the world’s leading collaborative media company and home to many of the Web’s largest pop culture communities, today released findings from a study conducted among its 13-18 year-old users in association with Ipsos MediaCT “GenZ: The Limitless Generation” exploring the complex behaviors of teens and technology.

According to the online survey, Wikia found its GenZ users say they are more actively connected now than they were just three months ago, giving a glimpse into a constantly connected, complex demographic that is changing more quickly than any generation before them. The extensive online survey of more than 1,200 U.S. Highlighted trends revealed by the survey include:
Millennials Aren't Kids Anymore; Plurals Are 05/04/2012. For years, we marketers have taken for granted that we know kids today.

We have known that the youth of this country is comprised of Millennials. We’ve known that kids like their parents and have a close relationship with them. In fact, their parents are friends, even confidants. We’ve known they are smart and brought test and achievement scores up. We’ve known school is cool and being a “good” kid is even cooler. But, what about now?
Innovation Imperative: Meet Generation Z. Economy and Work Our respondents harbor a strong streak of entrepreneurialism and self-confidence, but they’re anxious about the world and about our nation’s economic future.

A notable 42 percent of Generation Z respondents expect to work for themselves during their careers—far more than the 11 percent of Americans who actually are self-employed. Moreover, 63 percent believe that it’s important for colleges to teach entrepreneurship to students.
Gen Z may be the startup generation that never retires authors Tom Koulopoulos and Dan Keldsen write. The UpTake: Fifty percent of Millennials and 60 percent of the younger Gen Z generation expect to start their own businesses, and 30 percent of the latter group expect they will never retire, the authors of The Gen Z Effect found.

That’s because they grew up in an era of life hacking, where innovators are circumventing entrenched systems. H aving worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs over the last 25 years, and being one myself, I've always hated the notion of stepping outside of the box. The connotation is that you are stepping into some sort of void, the terra incognita on an antique map where the world drops off just beyond the dragons. Entrepreneurs don't just step outside of a box, they build entirely new boxes that the world never knew it needed—and these aren't just technology boxes.

What leadership will look like when Generation Z takes over (and I love Pope Francis)
If you want to understand Generation Z (born in the 200o’s), take a look at Pope Francis. He is not just a new pope. He is revolutionizing the Vatican in a way that generation Z is likely to revolutionize secular institutions. For those of you who are not following Pope Francis, you should. He is so cool he makes me want to give money to the Catholic church.
Marketing To Generation Z: Millennials Move Aside As Brands Shift Focus To Under-18 Customers.

If 2014 was the year of the millennial, 2015 is all about Generation Z. Some marketers have already begun shifting their strategies to appeal to people born in the 1990s and mid-2000s, but successfully getting their attention is more complicated than just throwing ads up on Facebook. Gen Z is completely separate from millennials, experts say, and old techniques won't do for the new generation.
Gen Z: Coming to an Internship Near You. Move Over Millennials. Over the past few years, marketers across all industries and categories have been obsessed with millennials -- how to reach them and build meaningful connections with their brands. This captivating generation has a unique sense of self and a nontraditional approach to life stages, which has made marketing to them a challenge. But perhaps even more challenging is the next generation on the rise -- Gen Z.

If marketers thought they threw out the playbook with millennials, they need to know that Gen Zers aren't even playing on the same field.
Capital - Why bosses won't 'like' Generation Z. Now that they think they finally understand millennials, some employers and consultants are already trying to size up the next generation of workers. They’re analysing the teenagers and children born since 2000 to predict how they may resemble or differ from millennials.
Make Way for Generation Z. Most of Gen Z are self-directed and believe in higher education, Northeastern study finds. Gen Z Has Grand Ambitions for Homeownership. “These kids today” is how someone might begin a discussion about the young people of the next generation.

The funny part is that elders have expressed this type of sentiment about youngsters since the days of the great philosophers of Ancient Greece. The gap between generations typically narrows as individuals age, with values, perspectives and priorities converging. In some cases, though, the alignment between the younger and more established generations may be stronger than conventional wisdom holds.

Such is the case with Gen Z teens and their views on homeownership. Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate recently conducted a national survey of 1,000 teenagers ages 13 to 17 that revealed that they have traditional dreams despite having being born and raised in a hyperconnected, always-on modern world.
Will Generation Z Disconnect?
Today's hot tech companies may soon be in for some nasty surprises. Teenagers are pushing back against the technology dependence that previous generations have developed -- in fact, against anything the corporate world pushes at them.

That's one of the surprising findings in a survey just released by Northeastern University.
Exclusive: Report Says YouTube Overtakes Facebook Among Teens. After months of speculation, Facebook last week acknowledged that there was some decrease in the number of "younger teens" using the social network on a daily basis.

Now an annual survey of 4,014 young people provides more proof that teens may be looking elsewhere. The Futures Company, a research consultancy, interviewed teens in July and found that 41.6% of those aged 12 to 15 said Facebook was their favorite website compared to 48% of teens overall. Last year, Facebook was the most popular site among 12- to 15-year-olds. The most popular site among all teens now is YouTube, according to the report.
Tomorrow’s Target: Marketing to Centennials - Publicis North America Press. By Sara Knee Strategist Publicis Kaplan Thaler.